


Forgetting

by Hollowgayle



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Cuddling, Drunk Adora, Exasperated Catra, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Fluff with a side of Sad as is my specialty, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 15:04:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollowgayle/pseuds/Hollowgayle
Summary: She’s forgetful at the best of times, never mind the worst. But the important things never fade.OR:Catradora request: drunk Adora half sobbing half shouting her love for Catra and how she wished they were together. The kicker? They're already engaged. Catra knows she should feel exasperated but really she's just enjoying the attention and love she's receiving.





	Forgetting

“It isn’t fair.”

It’s the umpteenth time tonight Catra has heard those words, Adora hanging off of her shoulder as the captain escorts her, ever so gently back to their room. The war is far from over, but Adora seems to be somewhere else entirely – Kicked back to a different time, a different place, by whatever princesses preferred to spike their drinks with. Catra wouldn’t know. She’s only been here a short while; She has no interest in lowering her guard, never mind getting drunk.

That’s what the word for this is, right?

“I know. I know you’ve never had it easy. I know you’ve had to struggle, fight and, it’s made you you’re who you are…”

A furry ear swivels, and she squints down at Adora. That doesn’t sound right. The words, sure, but their order is… It’s jumbled, and it takes Catra a moment to process before warmth rises to her cheeks. “Whatever, Adora. Just focus on not puking, okay? I don’t want your yack all over my mane.”

“You have a soft mane… You have a soft mane, Catra. I want–”

Adora sways on her feet as she reaches for the other’s hair, and Catra catches her with a huff, still uncomfortably warm. She doesn’t know what to say to that, and feels her ears flatten with embarrassment. Compliments have… Never been her strong suit. Adora has stopped moving, and Catra glances down at her, mismatched eyes momentarily catching those bright blues. Adora looks… Hazy, sure, but now she’s intent. There is a wild desperation in her eyes, and Catra lifts a brow.

“Hey, hot stuff. You doing okay?”

There is a long pause as Adora gulps down what Catra can only imagine is nausea, or something far more literal and less pleasant. Her dark brows knit together, and finally, she spits it out– Catra is glad, so glad that ‘it’ isn’t vomit.

“You– You have to leave the horde, Catra!”

Oh, that’s worse. That’s worse than vomit.

“Stop it, Adora. I don’t wanna talk about this again.” Of course she had to leave the horde. They were abusive. They were violent. Hordak was a monster, and not even Scorpia could protect her from him in the end. Brightmoon wasn’t much better, with their holier than thou, ‘redemption is possible’ _bullshit_ , and–

“You’re so kind. You’re so beautiful and– And soft and I– I want to, you to marry you, Catra.”

What?

Adora is tearing up as Catra feels her own eyes go wide, so hot under her fur she thinks she could cook an egg. She stares down at the other girl. She’s heard of marriage, sure, vaguely. More Brightmoon bullshit, but hearing Adora say it puts a funny feeling in her chest. She swiftly averts her gaze back to the hallway ahead, clearing her throat. Adora isn’t done talking, apparently. Catra isn’t sure how she feels about that.

“We can’t fight. We can’t, I know you’re not a bad person, and I–! You’re so soft. And I miss when you slept in my bed, and you would press your forehead on mine and purr, and–”

Catra stops her there. She can’t take another word of that; Hearing Adora talk about what they do or don’t do in this big, echoing hallway is more than she can handle. “I do sleep in your bed, Adora. We’re…  _Courting_ , remember?”

The word feels foreign on her tongue, but for Adora, she had accepted it, regardless of how hot it makes her face burn. Apparently Brightmoon has a name for everything, something she had learned relatively swiftly, and very little had changed between them in a literal sense since Catra had found her way away from the Horde.

But if Adora wanted a new name for them, she wasn’t going to argue. They seemed to fit all the criteria regardless, no matter how much disdain it earned from Glitter. Her words seem to take an eternity for Adora to digest; By the time she gets a reply, they’re turning left into yet another hallway, in the home stretch now.

“Courting. We’re…  _We’re_  courting?”

Adora’s voice warbles; She sounds close to tears. Catra sighs in exasperation, gently nudging her along towards their room. It isn’t far now. And then she’ll be able to set Adora to bed, and curl up with her, and hopefully come morning, all of… Whatever  _this_  is, will pass.

“Yes, Adora. We’re courting. We’ve been courting for a while, you’re the one that… Told me about it. Explained it, or whatever.”

She can’t tell if Adora is about to be sick, or about to start crying. In a worst case scenario, it’s both, and Catra prepares for that– But the blonde just bursts into tears, clinging to her tighter and sobbing against the shiny metal plate of her chest-piece. The sudden weight nearly makes Catra stagger; She has to catch herself, and right her footing as she props Adora back up, and hugs her gently with one arm as they waddle along. If Adora keeps this up, they’ll be crawling by the time they reach their room, she thinks. This little stride of theirs is awkward enough to warrant it soon.

“That’s… That’s so good, Catra. I’m so glad. You’re– You’re my favorite cat, you’re– Your tail is…” A little, hiccuping sob. “Your tail is cute, and your ears are… Are favorite… They’re mine. My favorite.”

Catra feels herself grin like an idiot a moment before she stops herself, pressing her lips together and struggling not to smile. This is ridiculous. She-Ra shouldn’t be behaving this way. If someone sees, it will mean hell, but–

“Your claws are so sharp but you’re– You’re always so soft to me. You never scratch me too hard, except that one time, but I think I would have scratched me too, and–” She pauses to catch her breath, rubbing her face against Catra’s neck. Catra feels more heat rise, and clears her throat– Adora is getting heavy. They’re almost there.

“If I’m your favorite cat, does that mean you know others?” A lifted brow, and she glances down at Adora, who stares up at her quizzically. There is a long,  _long_  silence.

“Uhm… No.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Catra closes her eyes for just a moment and brushes her nose against the crown of Adora’s head, nuzzling into her hair. She may smell a bit like sweat, and a bit like alcohol, but she still smells like Adora, too. And, true to form, the entirely off-topic question seems to have sent her addled mind spiraling off elsewhere, her distress over her partner entirely forgotten. Thank god. The drunk girl sniffles against her chest– Catra huffs and breaks the moment with the smallest sound of exasperation, hefting her up and continuing their march to their room.

“Catra?”

Her name is uttered meekly as the furry girl opens the door. Catra adjusts her grip on Adora once more as she helps her to bed, gently setting her down; Adora glances to her shoes with a dismayed look, and Catra closes her eyes, kissing her forehead as she carefully slips them off Adora’s feet.

“Yeah, hot stuff?”

“Why do you help me so much?”

Catra sets both of their shoes by the door, shedding the heavy metal of her armor and shrugging off the stuffy gambeson beneath. The armor isn’t her style. She’ll have to talk to someone about that, but she’s only been here a week; Demanding modifications to standard issue uniforms doesn’t seem like her place just yet.

The thought almost makes her forget that soft, soft question, but when she turns around, Adora is watching her intently from their bed.

“...I made a promise, remember?”

She doubts Adora does, at least like this. The bed gives slightly under Catra’s added weight as she joins her partner, nudging Adora onto her side and purring softly as her nose brushes the back of the other girl’s neck. She thinks, for a moment, that Adora must be asleep for her lack of reply, but then she hears her gulp down more sadness. She props herself up on an elbow, peering down at the other and brushing hair from her face.

“What is it? Adora?”

“I forgot.”

Adora doesn’t have to tell her what she means. The tears in her eyes speak for her. Catra feels her heart freeze for a moment, before leaning down to press their foreheads together.

“Me too, for a while,” she admits softly, and Adora sniffles. “But I remember now.”

Yes, Adora forgot. They both had. It had nearly torn them in two.

But Catra feels something rumble in her chest, the start of a purr as she presses close, and there is a moment before she feels something in Adora’s chest, too. There is another frozen pause before she realizes. The drunk girl is trying to purr back.

“You can’t, Adora. You can’t purr.”

It’s a struggle to stay serious.

“I can. I can!”

“You can’t.” The start of bubbling laughter is crippling her. Laughter is crippling the sadness that had hung heavy over their bed mere moments before. “You sound ridiculous. You sound ridiculous. You gotta- You have to sleep. Sleep, Adora. Sleep.”

The sound slowly fades as Adora wets her lips, twisting awkwardly to press a single, brief kiss to Catra’s lips and end the argument. There is more silence as Catra feels her whole face flush, ears going flat, and blinks down at Adora, stunned. It isn’t their first one, no. But it gets her every time.

“Okay,” She grumbles shyly, nudging Adora back onto her side. “Okay, dork. We’ll, uh, call that a tie. Now go to bed.”

Adora grins smugly, and Catra rolls her eyes as she settles down behind her, nestling her face between Adora’s shoulders.

She doesn’t care who wins, she thinks.

So long as they never forget again.

**Author's Note:**

> This is crossposted to tumblr [here!](https://lesbianmagicat.tumblr.com/post/184785939394/catradora-request-drunk-adora-half-sobbing-half) I'm currently accepting requests. I couldn't adhere completely to this request as for some reason the concept of them being engaged just wasn't flowing. I didn't want to set it after the war, as that's... So far away, but I couldn't picture them engaged before it ended. As always, if you like my work and you have the spare change, feel free to drop me a tip on my ko-fi. It's by no means necessary but IS appreciated, and all tips go right to helping fund visits to my girlfriend!


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